Dissertation Title: English in Context in an East-Asian Intercultural Workplace

Linguistic Field(s):
Applied Linguistics
Discourse Analysis

Dissertation Director:
Normand Labrie

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis is concerned with English in East-Asian international settings, where it is practised mostly among non-native speakers, and where cultural and interactional norms cannot necessarily be assumed to be those of established English-speaking communities. It is a study of one representative setting for English language practice in the region, a multinationally staffed international cooperation agency located in Japan. It attempts to describe the social phenomena that make up the context of situation of interactions in the workplace, and investigates the influence that this context has on the practice of English language there. The objectives are to arrive at a clearer understanding of the functions and nature of English when it is used as a regional (or international) lingua franca, and to reappraise the goals for English language education in such regions.

There were two components to the study: 1) An ethnographic study of the setting consisting of observation and interviews with participants probing a) their accounts of the conventions and social relations operating in their workplace, and b) their perceptions and expectations regarding communication in English; and 2) an analysis of audio-recorded interaction data, by grammatical, discourse, and conversation analytic methodologies. The participants' accounts were examined to see if they might help explain distinctive features in workplace language practices (successful and mis-communications, code-switching, innovation and variation in English structures).

The interaction data demonstrate that English is preferred for functions of ideational exchange within peer-groups, whereas Japanese is more often used when interpersonal meaning is important (requests, conversation regulation, etc.). The interview data, wherein participants reported favouring English for its directness and status-neutral grammar, provides a potentially causal correlation. Further, the following tendencies are observed in English language practice: a) avoidance of interpersonal meaning-making in the interaction order and in the structure of utterances, b) ideational explicitness, and c) a preference for communicative efficiency over adherence to rules of 'well-formedness'. Also, specific procedures for negotiating interactional norms were demonstrated.

There are two remarkable findings: 1) The perceived view of English (as direct and status-neutral) is a social fact and has had real, self-fulfilling effect. 2) English has been positioned as a complement to the participants' local languages, not acculturating to their cultural backgrounds, but given the restricted role of ideational exchange. The participants in this study are thus more accurately portrayed as 'practisers' of English than 'learners': they are not adopting the language practice of foreigners; they are creating a third culture and embracing an alternate practice of the language. The extent to which English is used and the ways in which it is adapted are highly influenced by the degree to which English language and culture are perceived to be suited to their cultural priorities, and to the exigencies of the situation.